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Virginia Tech to Establish Auto Tire Research Center

Car tire (vagawi/Flickr)Virginia Tech in Blacksburg is setting up a new research center devoted to the study of vehicle tires. The Center for Tire Research, which will involve collaborations with other institutions and tire and auto companies, gets its initial funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

The tire research center is expected to focus on the development of new tire materials, as well as the manufacturing, modeling, and simulation, and testing of tires. The facility will be based at Virginia Tech’s Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, a satellite facility in Danville, Virginia.

Some of the research activity will also take place at Virginia Tech’s partner institution, University of Akron, in Ohio. Clemson University, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan, and Dresden University in Germany are also expected to participate. Some 12 tire and auto companies are participating as members, including Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Michelin North America Inc., Bridgestone Firestone North American Holdings Ltd., Ford Motor Co., and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

The university has tapped mechanical engineering professot Saied Taheri to head the Center for Tire Research. Taheri is also director of Virginia Tech’s Intelligent Transportation Laboratory, and has worked for Goodyear and Ford Motor Company. As a student at Clemson University, Taheri interned with an auto racing company.

The university says NSF’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program has provided a start-up grant of $80,000 for the center, and is expected to provide annual financial support through 2017. Additional financing will be sought from corporate sponsors, who will have access to intellectual property developed at the center, as well as research project funding.

The center is expected to take on 10 new research projects each year, covering several engineering disciplines — mechanical, chemical, civil, electrical, and industrial. “Everything that tire manufacturers and car manufacturers do, anything they need to improve the performance of their cars or tires, as they relate to the tires, we will do,” says Taheri.

Photo: vagawi/Flickr

Read more: Bridgestone Tire to Study Natural Raw Rubber Alternative

Text corrected 20 June 2012

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